1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a plasma display device, more particularly, to a plasma display panel (PDP) of a planar discharge type in which an auxiliary discharge and a display discharge occur in a single cell.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Recently, design efforts related to flat-type display devices have progressed from conventional cathode ray tube (CRT) display devices to other display forms. Examples of such display forms include liquid crystal displays (LCDs), electroluminescence displays (ELDs), fluorescent indicator panels (FIPs), and plasma display panels (PDPs).
The PDP has particular advantages; for example, the PDP can be easily produced in large quantities, has more than twice the lifetime of conventional CRT devices, and can be of a large size. These advantages result from the PDP's structure, which is simpler than other flat panel display devices. For example, because it has no fragile parts besides glass, the PDP is easy to mass produce. The PDP is thus well-suited for a flat type display device.
A common problem in conventional DC type pulse memory PDPs is low luminance. FIG. 1 shows a partially broken, perspective view of a conventional DC type pulse memory PDP according to Japanese patent No. sho 57-86886. This PDP comprises a back glass substrate 100 and a front glass substrate 200. Display cathodes 110 and barrier rib 150 are sequentially formed on the back glass substrate 100 by a screen printing technique. Auxiliary anodes 140 and display anodes 130 are formed on the front glass substrate 200, also by the screen printing technique. The barrier rib 150 is disposed between the auxiliary discharge area 170 and the display discharge area 180, and provides an auxiliary discharge path for diffusing electric charge particles.
In this type of PDP, display discharge between the display anode and the display cathode is aided by the auxiliary discharge between the auxiliary anode and the display cathode.
In the operation of such a DC type pulse memory PDP, a memory function causes an ON state to be achieved simultaneously on a plurality of display cells associated with a particular display anode. All of the display cells associated with, for example, display anode 130a generate a large discharge current which flows through display anode 130a. Thus, such a device requires a display anode capable of conducting a large current. However, a large display anode acts to shield the emission of light generated from a display cell, thus lowering the luminance.
Another problem of conventional DC type pulse memory PDPs is erroneous discharge. Because a discharge start voltage depends on the distance between the display anode and the display cathode, this distance must be uniform in order to obtain a stable memory function; that is, stable discharge without errors. A larger panel size increases the likelihood of deviations in the distance between the display anode and cathode, thus resulting in erroneous discharge or an unstable memory function.
In the PDP of FIG. 1, separation distance between display anode and display cathode is determined by the height of the barrier rib 150. However, the conventional screen printing method used to form the barrier rib frequently results in a rib of nonuniform thickness, thus giving rise to nonuniform display anode-display cathode separation distance.